Julius Nyerere

Julius Nyerere (13 April 1922-14 October 1999) was President of Tanzania from 29 October 1964 to 5 November 1985, preceding Ali Hassan Mwinyi. He was a founding member of the TANU party and later a member of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, and he led Tanzania to independence.

Biography
Julius Nyerere was born in Butiama, Tanganyika in 1922, the son of a chief of the Zanaki tribe, and he became a teacher and in 1949 was the first African from Tanganyika to study in Britain, when he went to Edinburgh University. He returned to continue teaching, but in 1954 his political career took off when he became a member of the legislative council. In that year, he also became president of the TANU. Despite constant harassment by the British colonial authorities, he became his country's leading advocate of independence. He became the colony's Chief Minister in 1960, and Prime Minister upon the attainment of full self-government. Following independence in 1962, he established a one-party state, in order to internalize possible dissident or tension within the country's ethnically heterogeneous population. In constrast to many African leaders, he had very clear understanding that Western models of communism or capitalism were not easily applicable to Africa, and that they had to be translated in the local context. His Arusha declaration, however, in which he adopted socialism to focus on the ideal of the Ujamaa, failed not least because ultimately Tanzania was unable to isolate itself from the capitalist-dominated world market. He resigned in 1985 in favor of Ali Hassan Mwinyi, though he remained an influential figure, able to unite the different groups of the country, regardless of region, ethnic origins, or religion. He died in 1999.